EURion constellation
The EURion constellation is a pattern of symbols incorporated into a number of secure documents such as banknotes, cheques, and ownership title certificate designs worldwide since about 1996. It is added to help imaging software to detect the presence of such a document in a digital image, or scanners to detect such a document being scanned. The software or scanner can then block the user from reproducing such documents to prevent counterfeiting using color photocopiers.
Description
The name EURion constellation was coined by security researcher Markus Kuhn, who uncovered the pattern on the 10-euro banknote in early 2002 while experimenting with a Xerox colour photocopier that refused to reproduce banknotes. The pattern has never been mentioned officially; Kuhn named it the EURion constellation as it resembled the astronomical Orion constellation, and EUR is the ISO 4217 designation of the euro currency.The EURion constellation first described by Kuhn consists of a pattern of five small yellow, green or orange circles, which is repeated across areas of the banknote at different orientations. The mere presence of five of these circles on a page is sufficient for some colour photocopiers to refuse processing.
Some banks integrate the constellation tightly with the remaining design of the note. On 50 DM German banknotes, the EURion circles formed the innermost circles in a background pattern of fine concentric circles. On the front of former Bank of England Elgar £20 notes, they appear as green heads of musical notes; however, on the Smith £20 notes of 2007 the circles merely cluster around the £20 text. On some U.S. bills, they appear as the digit zero in small, yellow numbers matching the value of the note. On Japanese yen, these circles sometimes appear as flowers.
There are at least two types of patterns made using five circles. Some banknotes like euro, Japanese yen and US dollar use the EURion constellation or 'Omron rings' "Pattern type 1" shown above, while others including Chinese renminbi, Egyptian pound, Indian rupee, Thai Baht, Indonesian rupiah, South African rand, South Korean won, UAE dirham and Kuwaiti dinar use another pattern also called 'Omron rings'. The second pattern also has not been mentioned officially.
Technical details regarding the EURion constellation are kept secret by its inventors and users. A 1995 patent application suggests that the pattern and detection algorithm were designed at Omron, a Japanese electronics company. It is also not clear whether the feature has any official name. The term Omron anti-photocopying feature appeared in an August 2005 press release by the Reserve Bank of India. In 2007, the term Omron rings was used in an award announcement by a banknote collectors society.
Usage
Banknotes
The following table lists some banknotes on which the EURion constellation or Omron rings have been found. Current currencies for which all recent banknotes use the constellation are in bold and whose central banks are members of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group are italicised.The members of Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group are the European Central Bank and the central banks of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Some countries including China, India, South Africa, Egypt, Kuwait, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia use a different pattern of five rings for the anti-photocopy feature.
| Currency | Notes with Omron rings | Notes without Omron rings | Pattern type |
| Armenian dram | 1,000֏, 5,000֏, 10,000֏, 20,000֏, 100,000֏ | 20,000֏ and commemorative 50,000֏ | 2 |
| Aruban guilder | All | 2 | |
| Australian dollar | All, Centenary of Federation $5 | 1 | |
| Austrian schilling | S 500 and S 1,000 | S 20, S 50, S 100, and S 5,000 | 1 |
| Belgian franc | 500 fr., 1,000 fr., 10,000 fr. | 100 fr., 200 fr., and 2,000 fr. | 1 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark | KM 200, All | 50 fenings, KM 1, KM 5, KM 10, KM 20, KM 50, KM 100 | 2 |
| Bulgarian lev | All, 100 лв. | 2 | |
| Canadian dollar | Banknotes in the Canadian Journey and Frontier Series, "Canada 150" $10, $10 | 1 | |
| Caribbean guilder | All | ||
| CFA franc | All, All | 2 | |
| Chilean peso | $1,000 $2,000 $5,000, $10,000, $20,000 | $1,000 and $2,000 | 1 |
| Chinese yuan renminbi | ¥1 RMB, 2005 revision of ¥5 RMB and above, ¥100 RMB, ¥1 RMB, ¥10 RMB, ¥20 RMB and ¥50 RMB, ¥5 RMB | 2 | |
| Comorian franc | All | 2,500 FC | 2 |
| Croatian kuna | 5 kn., 10 kn., 20 kn., 50 kn., 100 kn., and 200 kn. | 500 kn. and 1,000 kn. | 1 |
| Czech koruna | 2,000 Kč., 1,000 Kč., 500 Kč., 5,000 Kč., 100 Kč. and 200 Kč. | 100 Kč., 200 Kč. | 1 |
| Danish krone | All | 1 | |
| Djiboutian franc | 1,000 Fdj, 2,000 Fdj, 10,000 Fdj | 2,000 Fdj, 5,000 Fdj, and 10,000 Fdj | 2 |
| Dutch guilder | ƒ10 | ƒ25, ƒ50, ƒ100, ƒ250, ƒ1,000 | 1 |
| Egyptian pound | £E 5, £E 10, £E 20, £E 50, £E 100, £E 200 | 25 PT., 50 PT., £E 1 | 2 |
| Euro | All | 1 | |
| Faroese króna | All | ||
| French franc | 100 F | 50 F, 200 F, and 500 F | 1 |
| German mark | DM 50, DM 100, DM 200 | DM 5, DM 10, DM 20, DM 500, DM 1,000 | 1 |
| Guyanese dollar | G$1,000 | 2 | |
| Hungarian forint | All, 10,000 Ft., 20,000 Ft., 2,000 Ft., 5,000 Ft., 1,000 Ft., 500 Ft. | 1 | |
| Indian rupee | 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 2,000 | 5, 10, 20, 50, 1st edition of 100 and 500 | 2 |
| Indonesian rupiah | Rp10,000, Rp20,000, Rp50,000, Rp100,000 ; all | Rp1,000, Rp2,000, Rp5,000, Rp10,000, Rp20,000, Rp50,000, Rp100,000 | 2 |
| Japanese yen | ¥2,000, series E, series F ; ¥1,000 | 1 | |
| Kyrgyzstani som | All | 2 | |
| Kuwaiti dinar | KD 5, KD 10 and KD 20 | 2 | |
| Macanese pataca | Banco Da China: All | ||
| Malagasy ariary | All | 2 | |
| Mexican peso | Series D Mex$1,000, All | Mex$20, Mex$50, Mex$100, Mex$200, Mex$500 | 2 |
| Moroccan dirham | All | 2 | |
| Myanmar kyat | Ks.1,000/-, Ks.500/- | K.-/50, K.1/-, Ks.5/-, Ks.10/-, Ks.20/-, Ks.50/-, Ks.100/-, Ks.200/-, Ks.500/-, Ks.1,000/-, Ks.5,000/-, Ks.10,000/- | 2 |
| Namibian dollar | All | 2 | |
| Netherlands Antillean guilder | NAƒ10, NAƒ25, NAƒ50, NAƒ100 | NAƒ250 | |
| Norwegian krone | All | 1 | |
| Polish złoty | 10 zł., 20 zł., 50 zł., 100 zł., 200 zł., 500 zł. | All | 1 |
| Romanian leu | All, Commemorative 2000 Lei, All, All, 100 Lei , 100 Lei | 1 | |
| Saudi riyal | All | 2 | |
| Singapore dollar | All, S$10 and S$50 | 2 | |
| South African rand | All | All | 2 |
| South Korean won | ₩1,000, ₩2,000, ₩5,000, ₩10,000, ₩50,000 | 2 | |
| Slovak koruna | 200 Sk., 500 Sk., 1,000 Sk., 5,000 Sk. | 100 Sk., 50 Sk., 20 Sk. | 2 |
| Sudanese pound | £S.50, £S.100, £S.200, £S.500, £S.1,000 | £S.1, £S.2, £S.5, £S.10, £S.20 and £S.50 | 2 |
| Surinamese dollar | Sur$50 and Sur$100 | Sur$5, Sur$10, Sur$20 | |
| Swazi lilangeni | All, E 100 and E 200 | 2 | |
| Swedish krona | All | 20 kr., 50 kr., 100 kr., 500 kr., 1,000 kr. | 1 |
| Swiss franc | All | 1 ; 2 | |
| Thai baht | ฿20, ฿50, ฿70, ฿100, ฿500, ฿1,000, All, All | ฿20, ฿50, ฿100, ฿500, ฿1,000 | 2 |
| Tunisian dinar | DT 10, DT 5, DT 50, DT 10, DT 5, DT 20, DT 10, DT 5, DT 50 | DT 5, DT 20, and commemorative DT 30 | 2 |
| Turkish lira | TL 20,000,000, 2005 and 2009 series | 1 | |
| Ugandan shilling | All | ||
| United Arab Emirates dirham | Dhs.500, Dhs.50 | Dhs.5, Dhs.10, Dhs.20, Dhs.50, Dhs.100, Dhs.200, Dhs.1,000 | 2 |
| United Kingdom Bank of England pound sterling | Bank of England £5, £10, £20, £50 | 1 | |
| United States dollar | $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 | $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 | 1 |
| Zimbabwean bond notes | $2, $5 | 2 | |
| Real Time Gross Settlement dollar | $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 | 2 |